Charlie Fiske. a Peace Corps volunteer with long ties to the Brockton area, writes from Malawi.

Shoes make a low-key Christmas in Africa

About this blog

By Charlie Fiske

Charlie Fiske, a long-time Bridgewater resident, will spend 26 months in the African country of Malawi as a public health advisor in an HIV/AIDS program. Malawi has a life expectancy of 52 years old and 11 percent of the country has HIV/AIDS
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Charlie Fiske, a long-time Bridgewater resident, will spend 26 months in the African country of Malawi as a public health advisor in an HIV/AIDS program. Malawi has a life expectancy of 52 years old and 11 percent of the country has HIV/AIDS according to the CIA Factbook. Fiske, who now lives in Arlington, is a 66-year-old lobbyist with two children, ages 31 and 30. The average age of a Peace Corps volunteer is 28 with seven percent of volunteers older than 50.

Over 500 kids from the Milkoke area in the Ntcheu District of Malawi await the distribution of shoes donated by TOMS shoes to the partners of the Impact project. (Charlie Fiske)

The usual signs of Christmas in Malawi are confined the large grocery stores in the capital city. Three weeks before Thanksgiving, tinsel and flashing colored Christmas lights were strung in a few places.

It is so strange to walk through the large Shoprite food chain and hear overhead speakers blasting out Bing Crosby’s "White Christmas" and Alvin and the Chipmunk’s "The Chipmunk Song - Christmas Don't Be Late" all in English.

Christmas as a commercial venture can’t be found here. Sales and suggestions for presents are nowhere. Even if there were large holiday displays and enticing bargains, few Malawians have available cash to purchase items beyond the basic needs.

With about 94 percent of the population living in village settings and a majority having no electricity, all the days blend into a sameness with the changing weather as the only distinction separating the months. The thought of family holiday gatherings in a country where unemployment is so high and transportation a total nightmare is a last consideration.

With little commercialization of the holiday it seems strange that a country that claims to be 84 percent Christian has no Christmas religious symbols posted or quaint manger displays in any of the public common areas. This is the same country that regularily tolerates various preachers boarding buses at the depot in the capital and shout religious sermons to captured commuters for at least the first six miles of the trip.

Malawians will never be heard complaining about "Christmas overload" or holiday fatigue. Christmas day will pass silently with hardly a notice as will the passage 0f 2013 into the new year of 2014.

The lack of a visible holiday atmosphere doesn't seem to be missed by most, simply because it has never happened. How does one explain to most Malawians the festive display of lights decorating trees in places like Boston Common when the sunset here signals a night time of darkness for many?

The holiday season came into focus this past week with the distribution of over 1200 pairs of donated TOMS shoes in three village areas of the Ntcheu District. TOMS, a retailer of shows, glasses and accessories, is a for-profit company that donates one product for every one sold.

The shoe donation wasn't timed to coincide with the holiday season because the shoes simply arrived later than anticipated. TOMS shoes donated over 20,000 pairs of shoes for children to be distributed by the various partners of the Impact project in Malawi.

Recipients for our group, the Dedza CHC were determined based on their participation in our school drop in centers and need. A few months ago the selected children were identified and measured. When the shoes were distributed each child was first measured again and all shoes were tried on for a correct fit. Once completed each child's shoe size was recorded while they had their inked thumb print stamped on a sheet of paper next their name.

What was most striking beyond the donation of the shoes was the upbeat friendliness of all the kids. These remote villages are located more than 30 kilometers off the tarred road. Many of the kids were wearing clothing that could be considered beyond redemption with T-shirts that were thin and worn.

Many don't have shoes and those that do show an assorted collection of flip-flops and plastic footwear. The shoes for many of these children would become the most valuable piece of their attire. Though the shoes were not donated as Christmas gifts I suspect that this would be the only gifts for most.

It is easier to understand why this holiday time will pass unnoticed especially at the remote village areas. There are just so many more important considerations like worry over the lateness of the rain season. Any delay in crop growth spells additional hardship for many.

There is no discretionary spending with any of these families. The simple thought of having extra kwacha (money) for holiday gifts never occurs. Even so there doesn't seem to be a sense of resentment or concern that is outwardly displayed. Nowhere does the attitude "feel sorry for me" surface.

So as Christmas passes quietly in Malawi with no visible displays it is hard for many of us to translate what we see against a holiday commercialization that makes us less sensitive to those less fortunate. The only way to truly appreciate how well off we are by a simple accident of birth is to stand with a group of hundreds of children for whom shoes seems the best present in the whole world.

Hooray for TOMS shoes whose donation at any time of year reaches kids who may never see signs of Christmas.